Means for unloading cars



A. R. SACKETT. MEANS FOR UNLOADING CARS. APPLICATION FILED. FEB.14,1920-1,41 2,3 1 6, Patented Apr. 11; 1922 INVENTOR,

' ATTORNEY.

- UNITED STATES PATENT 1 OFFICE.

ARCHIE R. SACKETT, or sAn rnnno, CALIFORNIA.

, To alltbhom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, ARCHIE R. SAoKE'rT, a citizen of the United. States,residing at San Pedro, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Means forUnload ifng Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improved means for unloading freight cars andthe like.

With this device] it Possible to unload freight within a minimum of timefor the amount of'labor expended. Hithertofore it has been necessary toemploya crew consisting of as many as a dozen men to .unload any form ofbox or fiatcar, but with the present invention, three men at the most,are

required to successfully handle any amount of freight and to operate,the same.

Essentially the invention consists in the novel arrangement andcombination of-several devices, namely,a hydraulic turn-table thatv maybe raised or lowered to any desired height; a load-receiving platformdetachably mounted upon said turn-table, grab hooks attachedto a draftdevice; and anove'rhead conveyer for transmitting the load-receivingplatform to its destination for purposes of loading or unloadingmaterial thereon.

I In actual practice freight cars are run upon a siding next to awarehouse and the hydraulic turn-table is brought into position beforethe open door of a box car .or approximately the center side ofa fiatcar. One man takes the grab hooks to which are attached the draft deviceand entering the car, if it is abox car, passes the grab hooks over thedifferent articles of freight to be removed therefromi Another manoperates power means that pulls the draft device.

' Vhen the word given that all is ready,

' the power meansis turned on, the grab hooks gripping the freight pullsame through the open door of the freight car and onto theload-receiving platform which is adjacent to the flat car or boxcar. Theload is drawn over the load-receiving platform. until the word is givento shut off the power." This operation is repeated until the, platformis completely loaded, at which time a man operating the overheadconveyerbrings same FORUNLOADING- CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 11, 1922. I 7 Applicationfiled'February 14, 1 920. Serial No. 358,791.

into position, and the conveyer straps are fastened to theload-receiving platform after which the hydraulic turn-table is lowered,leaving the load-receiving platform suspended in mid-air attached to theconveyer, and the conveyer with its load moved under power to anotherpart of the warehouse.

V lVith the above and other objects in View, the invention consists inthe novel and useful provision, formation, construction, combinatlon,association and inter-relation of parts, members and features, all asdisclosed'in the accompanying drawing, described in the followlngspecification, and finally defined. in claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation partly sectioned of theimproved means for unloading cars;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the showing in Figure 1; a

Figure 3 is an end elevation of overhead conveyer means; and,

Figure lis a fragmentary perspective view of grab hook.

Corresponding parts in all the figures are designated by the samereference characters.

lteferring to the drawing, C designates a freight car drawn upon asiding before a warehouse, and A designates a turn-table having aplatform 1 composed of two discs, 2 and 3, spaced from each other byroller means The upper disc 2 is free to rotate in a horizontal planeover the lower disc 3, which disc is fixedly mounted up ona centralhydraulic shaft 5 of the commonly known construction. The shaft 5 may beraised or lowered to any desired position by pressure means conveyed tosame through the pipe 6 and controlled by a double-way cook or hydraulicshut-off 7.

The loading platform 8 is detachably held posed therein. Thelongitudinal sides 11 and 12 are likewise provided with downwardly-andoutwardly disposed hooks 14:.

To remove the freight, grab hooks 15 and 16 are provided, each ofwhich'comprises hooks 17 arranged in a circular manner on the end of ashank 18, which terminates in an eye 19 to which is attached the draftdevice. See Figures 2 and 4. Thedraft device includes cables 20 and 21,one for each grabhook, which cables are passed over the roller members13 of the loading platform 8 to drums 22 and 23. These drums are mountedon the opposite ends of a jack shaft 24lfwhich jack shaft is held inposition by bearings 25 and 26 and driven by a power pulley 27 fixedlymounted on same.

The overhead conveyer B includes a pair of spaced grooved wheels 28 and29 journaled in suitable bearings 30 and 31 between parallel side platemembers 32 and 33. One of said grooved wheels 29 is driven by a suitablepower means 34 through a train of gears 35. As is indicated, theoverhead conveyer is electrically driven, one path of electrical currentbeing through a rail 36, and the other path through an overhead trolleywire 37. To conduct the current from the overhead trolley wire 37 atrolley 38 is mounted. upon the side plate members 32 or 33'of saidconveyer.

The overhead conveyer B is likewise provided with underslung supportinghooks 39 and 40 bent as shown in Figure 3 so that the lowest angledportion of same is disposed in a'plane of the center of gravity of theoverhead conveyer.

In order to use the overhead conveyer,

means such as load supporting cables .41-

and'4l2 having rings a3 and 1 1- attached at each end thereof and onering at the median portion thereof, are provided. The rings 4:5 arepassed over the hooks 39 and 40 as shown in Figures 1 and 3, and thelower rings a3 and l are passed under the hooks 1a on the load receivingplatfolin. ()f course this is not done until the load receiving platform8 is filled with freight, after which the lugs 9 are released, theloadreceiving platform freed from the turntable disc 2, the hydraulicpressure relieved, and the turn-table lowered, at which time the load isready to be conveyed to its destination to any part of the warehouse.Handles 16 are journaled at 47 to the platform 8. Upward movement of thehandles will tilt the platform and aid in removing the load from same. 7I It is obvious that many changes and moditications may be made inpracticing the foregoing invention, all without departing from thespirit of same.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters'Patent is: p V

1. The herein described means for unloadng freight cars, including aturn-table provided with means for adjusting the same as to height, aloading platform detachably mounted upon said turn-table, a draft deviceadapted to be extended over said platform, a grab hook joined to one endof said draftdevice, a shaft, and a drum mounted ed upon the upper ,discof the turn-table platform, a draft device adapted tobe ex-' tended oversaid loading platform, a grab hook joined to one end of said draftdevice, a shaft, and a drum mounted uponsaid shaft and connected withthe opposite end of the draft device and upon which same may be wound orunwound.

3. The herein described means for unloading freight cars including aturn-table platform having upper and lower discs, said lower disc beingfixedly mounted on a hy-V draulic controlled shaft whereby the turntableplatform maybe raised or lowered, there being roller members interposedbetween said upper and lower discs whereby the discs may be turned withrespect to each 0ther, a loading platform detachably carried by theturn-table platform, a draft device adapted to be extended over saidload ing platform, a grab hookjoined to one end of said draft device, ashaft, and a drum mounted on said shaft and connected with the oppositeend of the draft device and upon which same may be wound or unwound. i

4. The herein described means for unloading freight cars, including aturn-table, a loading platform detachably mounted upon Said turn-table,a draft device adapted to be extended over said platform, a grabihookjoined to one end of said draft device, a jack shaft, and a drum mountedupon said jack shaft and connectedwith the'opposite end of the draftdevicev and upon which same may be wound or unwound said loadingplatform comprising a :bed plate the longitudinalparallel side's-ofwhich are bent at right angles to said bed plate, and roller memberstransversely disposed'between said parallel bent portions to preventfriction when drawing freight over the loading plat- 7 form. r 5. Theherein described means for unloading freight cars, includingaturn-table, a loading platform detachably mounted on said turn-table,roller members mounted on said platform, a draft device passing oversaid-rollers," grab hooks attached to one end of said draft device, ajack shaft'and-drums mounted upon said jack shaft and connected Intestimony whereof, I have signed my with the other end of said draftdevice, name to this specification in the presence of whereby same maybe wound or unwound, two subscribing witnesses.

and an overhead conveyer, means being pro- ARCHIE R. SACKETT. videdwhereby said conveyer and said load- \Vitnesses: ing platform may bejoined, so that the EDNA TURNER,

latter may be carried to its destination. J. CALVIN BROWN.

